In EP 0 330 733 A1 a security thread is proposed, which can be checked both visually as well as by machine. For this purpose a transparent plastic film is metallically coated and this coating is provided with gaps in the form of characters or patterns. Furthermore, the security thread contains colouring and/or luminescent substances in the areas congruent to the gaps, by means of which under appropriate light conditions the characters or patterns differ in a color-contrasting fashion from the opaque metal coating. Preferably, an aluminum layer is used as metal layer. This security thread is embedded in security papers as a so called “window security thread”, i.e. it is woven in the paper during the sheet formation of the security paper, so that in regular intervals it is freely accessible at the surface of the paper and fully embedded in the paper only in the intermediate areas.
This security thread already meets the requirements of a very high security standard. The continuous metallic coating enables an automatic check of the electrical conductivity, while the gaps serve as a visual authenticity feature, which in transmitted light is easily recognizable by the viewer. Furthermore, the thread has an additional feature not easily recognizable by the viewer, namely the luminescence in the area of the gaps, which also is automatically checkable. When glancing cursory at bank notes, which have such a security thread, however, primarily the metallic luster of the window areas catches the eye. This luster can be imitated by simply bonding aluminum foil elements. When checking in a cursory fashion solely in incident light, such forgeries could be considered to be authentic bank notes.